PokerStars Drops Julian Thew and Darus Suharto

PokerStars have made the decision to drop two online pros from their pro team line-up, including Julian Thew and Darus Suharto. There was no official announcement from them, however it was noticed that both players were removed from PokerStars’ website.

The biggest shock from this announcement was the axing of Julian Thew, a very accomplished tournament player. Although Thew is not very well known in the United States, he is well known player in the United Kingdom. According to the site Hendon Mob, Thew, who is a Nottingham resident, ranks 16th on the Great Britain and Ireland all-time live tournament money list, having won more then $2.5 million.

Thew was signed to the PokerStars Team a little under one year ago, and from 2001 up until now, made a number of big scores on the live tournament circuit, including his biggest score in 2007, when he won the European Poker Tour Baden Classic for $947,806.

Darus Suharto, who resides in Toronto, Canada, but originally from Indonesia, is another player grinding the live tournament circuit. He was picked up by PokerStars in 2008 after his deep run in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, where he final tabled and was knocked out in 6th place, taking home more than $2.4 million. But since his WSOP ME final table, he hasn’t really done much else, and the entirety of his live tournament cashes besides his WSOP cash add up to less than $100,000, and so he was dropped by PokerStars.

This news that both players are no longer on the PokerStars pro team comes shortly after the departure of 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg “Fossilman” Raymer.

According to a tweet from fellow poker pro Kathy Liebert, Raymer made the decision to leave the pro team as he was offered a new contract by PokerSars which meant a pay cut, which he felt was unacceptable.

“I heard that PokerStars was cutting many of their Team Pros’ compensation. Take it or leave it. Greg Raymer left it,” Liebert said on Twitter.

There has definitely been a big shakeup with the pro team with many new faces coming on board in recent times. PokerStars have added 2010 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel, high-stakes cash game pro Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Vanessa Selbst, and the UK’s David Williams who was formerly with Bodog, all in the last year.